228 THE RELIGIOUS ORDERS OF ISLAM

As welies they have an influence far beyond the limits of
their particular followings. These founders of orders do
not number one hundred, but the welies in genera! are count-
less. Their shrines are scattered over the Mohammedan
world. In their cult may be found a very practical modifica-
tion of the pure monotheism of Islam. Hence a prelimi-
nary word about the doctrine of the saints is in place. The
hagiology of Islam forms an immense subject. The late
Dr. Samuel Ives Curtiss found a book in the library of the
great mosque in Aleppo giving the names of two hundred
and ninety-one saints of that place alone.1 Shrines are
dedicated to the prophets (most of whom also appear in
the Jewish and Christian scriptures); to the companions of
Mohammed; to the founders of orders; to other characters
famous in Moslem history; and finally, to a multitude of
holy men, local and obscure, some of whom may have been
forgotten Christian saints! For the uneducated Moslem,
whether peasant or dweller in the town, the cult of the
shrines is as vital as are the five pillars or ordinances of
religion: confession of the creed, prayer, fasting, alms,
and pilgrimage. .For sonic it would seem to bo more vital
"Saints" were often sufis, or seekers after union with God,
but in the cult of their shrines the pure sufi idea is obscured
and distorted. The 'ulama, quoting the example of the
caliph 'Omar, who ordered the felling of a tree under which
Mohammed used to meet his followers, lest it become an
object of idolatrous veneration, denounce the cult, which
is built on the practice of making and paying vows to welies.
Vows, they teach, should be paid to (rod alone. The more
intelligent of the common people justify the cult on the
ground that while the vows are made to God, these may be
paid at some particular shrine whose wely is especially
beloved of God. The cult, indeed, exalts holiness. The
object, however, is not to secure personal holiness by direct
communion with (Joel, but to turn to personal account the
holiness of the wely. The cult of saints has much the

1 Other valuable information contained in this section comos from
the journals of Dr. Ourtiss, some of which are now used for the first
time. See Preface.